OSHA Awards $10.2M in Worker Safety Training Grants to 67 Organizations
- The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration awarded roughly $10.2 million in grant funds to 67 organizations nationwide through the Susan Harwood Training Grant Program to support worker safety education and training.
- The grants fund instructor-led training for workers and employers at small businesses, with a focus on industries with high injury, illness and fatality rates, aiming to develop classroom-ready materials that identify and prevent workplace hazards.
- Roughly a dozen of the grants are specifically dedicated to fall protection training for residential and commercial construction workers in states including Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas.
- The program honors Dr. Susan Harwood, who during her 17 years at OSHA developed workplace safety guidelines for benzene, formaldehyde, bloodborne pathogens and lead in construction, and authored OSHA’s cotton dust standard, which virtually eliminated byssinosis, a lung disease causing asthma-like symptoms among textile workers.
Recycling Worker Dies After Being Struck by Front Loader
- A worker died after being struck by a front loader at Freetown, Mass.-based Excel Recycling’s facility at 17 Ridge Hill Road in Freetown, according to the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.
- Freetown police and EMS responded just before noon after receiving 911 calls reporting someone had been struck by the front loader. Torres was found with significant injuries on the ground near the vehicle.
- Torres was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries a short time after arrival.
- Further details about what led to the incident have not been released, and an investigation remains active and ongoing by state and local police along with the district attorney’s office.